Articles & Texts
Resources
See Download link above.
A brief look at some Theosophical artists in Australia
Walter Mason
Originally published Theosophy in Australia magazine March 2023
From its inception, the Theosophical Society has attracted eccentrics, visionaries, writers, composers and, perhaps especially, artists. Someone like Hilma af Klint has been rediscovered and her Theosophically-inspired works are recognised and valued the world over. In Australia we have the example of Clarice Beckett, someone “rediscovered” by the art establishment here, and someone whose Theosophical leanings inspired a creative life that is now taken very seriously.
There are others, though, whose careers perhaps more realistically reflected the fate of most artists: struggle, obscurity and a humble recognition and acclaim which doesn’t survive beyond the grave. Some names of gifted and prolific Australian Theosophical artists that should be better known include Rona Scott, Florence Fuller and Mary Packer Harris. Men, too, combined their Theosophical beliefs with their art, and a couple of names that deserve some recognition include the photographer John Watt Beattie and Frederick Cox.
Rona Scott, who died in 2006, was a gifted and energetic painter of abstract works that, in some cases, were influenced by her reading of the ‘Stanzas of Dzyan’, the text that is the basis of The Secret Doctrine. Scott painted images that were inspired by her reading of particular Stanzas (the numbers recorded on the backs of paintings as an aid to future researchers). These sweeping, vividly-coloured paintings are filled with her own personal symbolism as well as abstract shapes and swirls conveying the moods of spiritual contemplation inspired by reading Madame Blavatsky.
Working with a poet called Dudley Gower, between 1982 and 1983 she created a cycle of paintings called ‘Cosmic Birth’ which illustrated her vision, inspired by Blavatsky, of the creation and evolution of the Cosmos. The viewing of the paintings was enhanced by Gower’s modern poetic reflection on the Stanzas. One may yearn for the return of such high-bohemian moments, and the synthesis of artistic forms is characteristic of the open spirit of inquiry encouraged by Theosophy. I’s possible that in the future we will encounter again these wildly experimental and soul-freeing artistic events.
The paintings detail one artist’s experience in Theosophy, the colour and movement of the canvases symbolising the artist’s spiritual transformation and growth. With a generous spirit Scott donated paintings to Lodges across Australia, and their characteristic colour and vivid form would be familiar to many Theosophists, even if they don’t quite know her name. For more than a decade she also worked as a school art teacher, and several people have attested to her tremendously inspirational style of teaching and her encouragement of her students’ talents and curiosities. Inspired by the teachings she shared her artistic vision with the world, and was widely exhibited, particularly in Newcastle, the area she lived in. One of the exhibitions of paintings described as “hovering between surreal and metaphysical” was a group show she shared with the well-known outback painter Pro Hart.
Rona Scott 1A The Eternal Mother-Parent 1982-3 at National HQ
There was another pioneer in Theosophical art and art understanding who came before Scott, and that was the wistful and visionary South Australian artist Mary Packer Harris. Subsisting on a meagre income as an art teacher in schools, she was a tireless worker as an artist who not only exhibited constantly but also encouraged the careers of other artists, organised group exhibitions and taught art history and appreciation to High School students. Her talent expanded across media, and she worked in painting, drawing, woodblock print and even textiles. She was also a superb writer and a fascinating art critic, submitting pieces of art analysis to the Theosophy in Australia journal. Like so many of her Theosophical friends she worked for the advancement of vegetarianism.
More mainstream players in the art world criticised her for her “muzzy mysticism” but it is this very mysticism that makes her of most interest to Theosophists. She identified, as well, as a Quaker, and throughout her life campaigned tirelessly for the cause of peace, including protesting Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war. She published two beautiful and idiosyncratic books on art appreciation, and self-published her own memoir, with an exquisite cover she designed herself. Her student, and later on a prominent art-world identity, Ivor Francis, noted her quest for truth through beauty, and explained that “good art, in her book, was art which was inspiring, spiritual, uplifting and ennobling [i].” She was a champion of modern art appreciation in Australia, though her own work remained relatively conventional. She was most interested in encouraging people’s own pursuit of truth and beauty, and avoided narrow labels for herself and others.
Annie Besant encouraged Theosophists to explore the visual arts, and historian Jill Roe mentions her enthusiasm for a Perth artist called Florence Fuller [ii]. Indeed, so fulsome was Besant’s praise that Fuller moved to the Theosophical Headquarters in Adyar in 1908. Fuller had been a child prodigy who had studied art in Paris and London and had found some acclaim as a professional artist on her return to Australia at the age of only 17. She painted a famous portrait of Aboriginal elder William Barak, and soon she had developed an interest in Theosophy. Once she moved to Adyar she painted one of the most famous portraits of Madame Blavatsky.
By Florence FULLER (1867 - 1946) (Australia) Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Died in Gladesville, New South Wales. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23695140
Fuller’s exquisite portrait of the Buddha is on display at the National Headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Australia. In her fascinating doctoral study of Theosophy and modernism in Australia, art scholar Jenny McFarlane pointed out that it was through the employment of Theosophically-inspired spiritual practices such as visualisation as well as engagement with Indian art and its techniques that Florence Fuller was able to render work that was so fresh and unique [iii].
There is still so much work to be done when it comes to researching the lives and influence of Australian artists inspired by Theosophy. So many of them deserve to be better known. In some cases their reputations as artists have been resurrected, but the influence and importance of Theosophy on their work has been downplayed or banished to the sidelines. Hopefully future generations of Australian art scholars will make more connections between art and Theosophy, recognising just how much influence the Theosophical movement has had on the Australian art world.
[i] Francis, Ivor (1986) ‘A Personal Note on Mary’, in Biven, Rachel Mary Packer Harris, (booklet) Walkerville Town Council
[ii] Roe, Jill (1986) Beyond Belief: Theosophy in Australia, Kensington: NSW University Press, p. 190
[iii] McFarlane, Jenny (2006) A Visionary Space: Theosophy and an alternative modernism in Australia 1890-1934, Doctoral Thesis, Canberra: Australian National University, p. 15
By Florence Fuller - National Gallery of Australia - https://online.nga.gov.au/masterpieces-for-the-nation-fund-2013, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29463024
